Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical 3; 40mm. It has everything I need In terms of battery life (29 days), buttons because I do water sports (face doesn’t recognize fingers if wet) and the Normal activities such as strength, run, walk, mma, etc.
I actually looked at instinct 3 solar as well. But I am a bit afraid that the design is a bit to “rugged” as I want to use the watch for work as well.
It would cost me around EUR 270
When comparing price would you still go for the Instinct 3 solar?
Honestly, this takes me back to my Casio G-Shock days. I love this so much. It's like I have a real watch again! But it also vibrates and gives me text message previews and tracks my sleep and heart rate and all the other junk! I love it!
So, I really thought the screen would be easier to read with the high contrast black/white, but it's really not all that easy.
I have 45 year old eyes, and I guess I need to get my prescription adjusted because I'm still having trouble reading the tiny print and icons. If I REALLY take my time to look, it's not bad and I can get it.
But the condensed font they use, and the blocky lettering, though cool in an "old school" kind of way, is much harder to read than anything I had on my apple watch.
With that said, I do like that it feels like I have an actual watch again. I missed my casio g-shock, and this is like that watch on steroids because it gets all the notifications and buzzes and tracks my sleep and everything else. I love that aspect of it.
But I haven't found the perfect watch face yet for me. As a graphic designer, I would love to just design my own face. I'll have to look into how to do that.
But long story short, the readability is far lower than an apple watch in every respect except in bright sunlight, when it's way better than apple watch aside from the size of the icons and text.
Also, navigating the menus via buttons instead of the roller crown is kind of a pain in the ass. I find myself taking the watch off entirely and making my modifications in front of me with both hands, instead of keeping the watch on and using my right hand only to push the buttons with the watch on my left wrist.
I'm not as enamored with it as I was when I first contemplated it. but that said, I'm going to stick it out and try to make the adjustments I need to to make it "mine".
It kind of feels like getting a new linux installation setup just how you want it. Once you figure everything out, it's great. But getting there takes a lot of trial and error.
45s>265>epix pro gen 2>instinc 3 45>vertical 2>255>enduro 3. That was my way.
After couple years can say- 255/955 mips are one of best ever for lot of sports and mip lovers, their amoled sibilngs are also great.
Instinct 2,3 also great rugged tanks. A little smaller screen for me (like 6-8 metrics for one screen during runs, ins.can go up to 4-5).
F7 pro or 7x for bigger wrist, epix pro gen 2- fanstastic options but bulkier- just dont swim with them because buttons can get smooshy (mine did!). Flash and newest opt.hr great!
Dont like too bright screens on vx1 and 970, and lame battety.
Now enduro 3 comes in a way. It is truly fantastic. Smaller wrist about 17.5cm and it is not heavy like epix pro gen 2 47mm. Battery is 40days with little sun a day and 1h of gps 6 times a week. Crasy. Didnt now what to except, many here adore it, but now- I am one of them.
Just dont swim with epix pro- having faulty buttons. Happened to me, so no watter and watches. If not- you can go for it. It is fantastic option. Tried f8- also great. 255 is much cheaper but with all functions for marathons and much more. 265 amoled also, 955 mip with maps, 965 amoled... 970 is fantastic, 570 is expencive without maps so no. So you are considering best ones in the market. Go try them if can. Epix fenix was too heavy for me, enduro 3 too big, instinct 3 solar interesting, but not visible for fast running, vertical 2 too heavy. Now rocking 970 and I am very pleased, despite loving mip more. But thinking that my beloved 255 worked pretty good- light, reliable, with all metric that we really need. Cheers
45s>265>epix pro gen 2>instinc 3 45>vertical 2>255>enduro 3. That was my way.
After couple years can say- 255/955 mips are one of best ever for lot of sports and mip lovers, their amoled sibilngs are also great.
Instinct 2,3 also great rugged tanks. A little smaller screen for me (like 6-8 metrics for one screen during runs, ins.can go up to 4-5).
F7 pro or 7x for bigger wrist, epix pro gen 2- fanstastic options but bulkier- just dont swim with them because buttons can get smooshy (mine did!). Flash and newest opt.hr great!
Dont like too bright screens on vx1 and 970, and lame battety.
Now enduro 3 comes in a way. It is truly fantastic. Smaller wrist about 17.5cm and it is not heavy like epix pro gen 2 47mm. Battery is 40days with little sun a day and 1h of gps 6 times a week. Crasy. Didnt now what to except, many here adore it, but now- I am one of them.
I just switched a month ago from 4.5 years of Apple Watch Series 6 to Garmin instinct 3 Solar 45mm. I love it!
The Apple Watch definitely had much more attractive watch faces that’s for sure.
But in terms of practical use for fitness activities I prefer the garmin instinct 3 MIP display. It’s better in very bright sunlight. When it’s not legible in really dark settings, I just use the back light.
Most important activities is easier than using the Apple Watch thanks to the button-driven UI. When I’m in the middle of a run on a bright day flipping through my metrics, the Apple Watch is quite difficult to use while the Garmin is easy to use and always legible.
If you like the G-shock look, Instinct 3 costs a little less and gives you everything you laid out in your original post. The three watches you mentioned all have extra features beyond the instinct 3 that you didn’t mention you actually would use. For whatever reason, Garmin charges a really huge premium for watches that have built-in maps.
Also: if you get the instinct 3 solar model, and you rarely use it to track activities, the battery life can be infinite if you are outdoors in the sun a lot.
If I had a very large wrist and the prices were equal, I would go for the Enduro 3. But at 165mm or so, my wrist is not big enough for the Enduro 3.
I switched from Apple Watch 6 to Garmin Instinct 3 a couple months ago. Given my extensive use outdoors and my wrist size, I am very happy with Instinct 3.
The instinct 2 solar has a solar panel over the main part of the display, which makes the display much less readable.
If I were going to save money, I would get instinct 2 without solar which has much easier to read display. If you want solar, I get the instinct 3 whose solar panel is only on the outer ring.
Was $300 for a few weeks Nov/Dec in USA. Not sure if it could be had for that much at the moment.
I'm not the only person in the world who thinks the Instinct 3 (or 2 without solar) is clearer. See this discussion (with pic):
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmininstinct/comments/1ihhp71/instinct\_3\_vs\_2x\_screen\_display\_clarity/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmininstinct/comments/1ihhp71/instinct_3_vs_2x_screen_display_clarity/)
Sorry. My main point was clarity of display.
Secondarily, Price: When I was shopping a couple months ago, the 2X was about the same price as the Instinct 3 solar 45 mm at around $300 each.
So had I been willing to sacrifice the solar, I could’ve gotten an instinct 2 for much less money. It does not have the solar layer on top of the main display, so the display clarity is not much different from the instinct 3. But it is missing a few features that both the 2X and the instinct 3 have.
The 2X clearly has some advantages over the instinct 2 beyond just the solar. As one YouTuber pointed out, 2x should be called the instinct 2.5!
But if you’re shopping and the price of the 2X is about the same as the solar version of the 45mm 3, I would take the instinct 3. I personally prefer the 45 mm over the 50 mm anyway.
I had been thinking about buying an instinct for over a year and balked at the price tag and 50mm size for the 2X. So when the instinct 3 price dropped to $300 I jumped.
I would go with Instinct 3 Solar 45mm, maybe the tactical if you like the design. It has great solar charging, great battery life, and you have a flashlight. The GPS switches better and you have all the latest features except maps.
Unfortunately it is a little bit bigger, you have to check. Most people get used to the bigger size.
Other option is the Forerunner 255s. It is a great watch, great feature set, good MIP screen, good battery life, and small size. If you can find it, you will find only the last available stock; it is not widely available anymore.
Otherwise with the newer watches you would probably need to charge more often than once per week. Charging once per week is already very good.
Any Garmin watch can do this what you need. The improvements have been very incremental in the past 3-4 years.
ECG, microphone, LTE are not very useful, ignore them.
Here are a few watches that stand out and I would buy for myself. I use Garmin watches since 2017, and had like 10 different models. I trail run, bike, and swim.
Approx prices.
For exercise outside, the 5 button setup with MIP screen is the best IMHO.
Forerunner 255 is great price/performance, light, slim, does everything. $250
Enduro 3 is top of the line, latest tech, a few weeks battery life easily. But it is a big watch. Has maps and navigation. $800
Instinct 3 Solar Tactical has great battery life and looks cool (all black), is rugged. $450
Less optimal, I wouldnt buy:
If you want more a smartwatch style, with bright amoled and touch screen first, check out the Vivoactive 6. But with sweat, sun etc. the buttons and MIP is much better in practice.
Cheapest Maps would be Forerunner 955.
You can expect 2-4 years from your watch.
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